Factor 50p – 70.
Write your answer as a product with a whole number greater than 1.
The correct answer and explanation is:
The expression given is 50p – 70. To factor this expression, follow these steps:
- Identify the greatest common factor (GCF): The first step in factoring is to look for the greatest common factor between the two terms. The terms in the expression are 50p and -70.
- The factors of 50p are: 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50, and p.
- The factors of -70 are: 1, 2, 5, 7, 10, 14, 35, and 70.
- Factor out the GCF: Now, factor out the 10 from each term in the expression:
- Factor out 10 from 50p: 50p ÷ 10 = 5p.
- Factor out 10 from -70: -70 ÷ 10 = -7.
- Check the result: To verify, distribute the 10 back into the parentheses: 10(5p−7)=10×5p−10×7=50p−7010(5p – 7) = 10 \times 5p – 10 \times 7 = 50p – 70 This matches the original expression, so the factorization is correct.
Thus, the factored form of 50p – 70 is: 10(5p−7)10(5p – 7)
Explanation:
Factoring is the process of rewriting an expression as the product of its factors. The key to factoring is identifying the greatest common factor of all the terms in the expression. In this case, the GCF of 50p and -70 is 10. Once we factor out this common factor, the remaining terms are 5p and -7, which cannot be factored further.